I'm a journalist covering everything from media issues to the world of that very particular group of people who are just as rich as they are media shy. I also write about my native country of Brazil and its growing importance as a global player, from a Brazilian-who-spends-a-lot-of-time-abroad point of view. My articles have been cited by numerous publications and media outlets such as The Financial Times, USA Today, The Telegraph, CNN, MSNBC and others.Thanks to my work, I split my time between Europe, the United States and Brazil. Feel free to follow me on Twitter: @AndersonThinks. You can email me at: aantunes[at]forbes[dot]com

Is Brazilian Soccer Star Neymar Spending His Way To Bankruptcy?

There’s no question about how talented is Brazilian soccer star Neymar. A sports prodigy in his own right, Neymar is not only the most celebrated athlete in Brazil these days, but he’s also the country’s hope of winning the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which will be hosted by the South American nation.

Described by no less than Pele, arguably the greatest soccer player in history, as a “technical marvel, a wizard with magical feet,” Neymar is, at the tender age of 20, at the top of his game. But Neymar’s talents while playing don’t seem to apply to his finances–he is certainly earning the kudos and piling in cash, but he’s also blowing most of it.

Just in about two years, Neymar reportedly bought a $750,000 triplex and a $2 million mansion in a gated community, both located in the Northern Coast of the state of Sao Paulo; a $150,000 flat in Sao Paulo, capital district, and a Porsche Panamera Turbo, which came with a price tag ranging from $400,000 to $550,000. He also gave the 18-year-old mother of his only child a penthouse worth about $1 million in Santos, plus $15,000 per month in child support. But the icing of the cake was his purchase of a ridiculously expensive second-hand Italian yacht, which cost him a reported $8 million, not to mention its maintenance expenses of roughly $120,000 per year and an average decrease in value of 5% to 10% by year, according to people familiar with the matter.

Although he didn’t place in the list of The World’s Highest-Paid Soccer Players, released by Forbes in April and topped by David Beckham, Neymar is taking home a salary of about $4 million annually from Santos, the Brazilian club which has him under contract through 2014. Thanks to sponsorship deals with the likes of Nike (worth $1 million per year) and Red Bull, besides a handful of other Brazilian companies, Neymar banks another $4 million off the field, putting his total annual earnings at an estimated $8 million, according to Forbes’ sports writer Christina Settimi. That’s much less than the amount taken home by more established soccer stars such as Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and even Neymar’s countryman Kaka, all of whom spend accordingly to their income (By the way, Beckham prefers to rent a yacht when he is on vacation.)

And in spite of certainly being a respectable sum, it’s not anywhere as near as the $18 million in annual earnings that the Brazilian media has attributed to him recently*. Besides, Neymar only began to make that sort of money just a while ago, when he renegotiated his contract with Santos, and he is yet to achieve the level of bankability that would allow him to buy expensive toys such as a yacht.

“No doubt he’s probably overspending,” Settimi says, also noting that his club could have something to do with that. “I wouldn’t put it past Santos to be supporting the behavior to keep him there. One of my UK sports sources says they want to keep him from going to Europe and have been bending rules to make him happy.”

Forbes’ senior editor Kurt Badenhausen agrees, but also points out that Neymar is just in the beginning of his career. “Neymar is on the upswing and will be making good money for another 10+ years,” Badenhausen predicts. “It is still a little disconcerting though.”

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8 mln is not a lot more money in Brazil/São Paulo than in the US or Europe. Actually, it’s quite the opposite. São Paulo is the tenth most expensive city in the World. The cost of life is extremely high. I have lots of Europeans friends who were surprised with the exorbitant high prices practice in São Paulo. You should wonder why in 2011 almost 2 million Brazilians went shopping in the US and spent US$ 6 billion. Source: Office of Travel and Tourism Industries

I totally disagree with Juan comments saying that: 1. “8 million in Brasil is a lot more money than 15 million in the USA”. If this was true, then why so many Brazilian people travel to Florida – USA exclusively to buy stuff that are twice cheaper in USA than in Brazil? Also, I lived in Europe, in USA and I live in Brazil: I can tell that most of the things are more expensive in Brazil than anywhere else. 2. “Brasil does not take 50% of you income either”. It is not exactly 50% but it is quite close for very high revenues. Also, there are the taxes that you can´t see, like 70% importation taxes on cars etc… I don´t even mention the taxes on gasoline, which is highly necessary to move Neymars yatchs, cars etc… Brazil is a wonderful country, I am loving it, but we must admit that costs and taxes are far too high. I agree with Anderson´s opinion… Neymar is an excellent player, he earns lots of money, but he may run out of it if he continue spending like a irresponsible teenage.

Mr. Anderson! I concur sir! I always thought the young man was doing a bit of overspending and making some exuberant investments with yachts and etc. If anything 10 million tops…but to keep up and maintain all those toys…that takes some spending and could tighten up his margen for comfort! It´s a good read! Thanks for the article!

Really? Thats investigating? The guy is today the face of Gillete, Clear, Ceara, redbull, nike, proevollution soccer, samsung, claro, santos, amongst others… U think those contracts plus what he makes as a soccer player and what he makes selling shirts and showing up on tv and events sum up to 8 million dollars a year?? In what universe?? Gosh, the problem is not even who wrote this, is the one who let it be published.

I’m sorry to tell you, but, yes, we have researched and we are pretty sure about the $8mln estimate for Neymar’s annual earnings. All the companies you’ve mentioned (and others) have been considered for this figure. Besides, I never questioned the fact that he is making a lot of money. The issue here are his expenses.

France Football’s methodology for tracking athletes’ earnings is different from that of Forbes, and we stick to our estimates. Besides, even if he was making 13.8mln euros per year, in and off field, that amount would be before taxes, agents commissions, etc. He can buy whatever he wants and nobody is being judgemental here, but we’ve seen athletes going down that road before.

Hi! I definitely doubt these numbers ($8mi) atributed to Neymar’s annual incoming. As you said, ‘… a handful of other brazilian companies’… He’s got a huge salary, an enormous income provided by Nike, Redbull, Clear, Seara, Samsung, Nextel… I cannot assure he receives $18mi annually, but only $8mi? Certainly not.